November 12, 2007

Mausketeers

FOUND at a suburban Tokyo antiques fair! Disturbing evidence that a certain world-famous mouse who shall not be named has a seedier past than you might think.

There he is, spotted in some weird scene with a yokai monster. Proof of his connections to the occult? You be the judge.

Hmm... "Ano ne no ossan" translates into something like "Mr. You Know Who." And judging by that German army helmet, I don't think it's supposed to be Charlie Chaplin.

Here's what a certain "Duck" looks like when he's not on camera. The eyes... The EYES! We can only guess what sort of wacky antics he and "American Soldier" were up to in occupied Japan.

These are "karuta," cardboard trading cards produced in massive numbers in postwar Japan. They can be used in a variety of playground games, and decades ago, they were as popular as the likes of Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon today. They featured a wide range of imagery, often appropriated totally without permission, and were sold in sheets, which you can see in their original forms here and here. (Dig other American favorites like "Popai" and Tarzan in that second one.)

Karuta are related to a similarly copyright-bending genre of cards called "menko," which tend to be round. (As you can see from this link, they remained popular well into the '80s. That "ET" still gives me the creeps.)

2 Comments

Huh? German army helmet? Doesn't look that way, with all these broad cloth strings and brim-like upbending. And what's with the clan logo on his hat? It's the Takeda one. I don't know who he is but surely he is no German. Takeda Shingen would be famous enough and could even wear such a beard, but surely noone would let him wear such a civil hat when he is best recognized by his war helmet...